Acmetropolis 4a: Inflictus Revised Version
by furrball
Summary: The first part of what has now become a trilogy. Revised version. Rated T for tomato surprise. The surprise is, there's no tomato. LoonaticsxZadaviaxOC.


Hi again, folks. I'm taking a slight break – _very_ slight - from the action in "Acmetropolis" for an extremely short story dealing with our old friends the Loonatics, who find themselves dealing with a villain who isn't all that he seems to be. In fact, there's _more_ to him than they suspect; so much more that this tale comes in two parts. The second (the main course, if you will) comes a bit later. Consider this first part merely an appetizer for what's about to follow. With that intro out of the way, let's go back (or forward) in time to 2773, and the day the Loonatics meet someone they'll _never_ forget… a villain named…

"Inflictus" by furrball

---

"So, anythin' new and excitin' to report today?" Ace Bunny asked of his fellow Loonatics.

"Please, we just had breakfast," Danger Duck yawned.

"Is that before or _after_ you woke up, Duck?" Ace grinned.

"Nothing happening lately, Chief," Tech E. Coyote replied. "All quiet."

"Good," Duck said, in that ill-informed way of addressing a situation that only _he_ had. "Well, I think we're just about due for some vacation time…"

Lexi raised her head with a slight start. "I wouldn't start packing just yet, Duck. We've got company coming."

"Oh, joy…"

The main doors opened and Zadavia entered. "Good morning, Loonatics."

"Eh, mornin', boss lady. What's up?"

"I have a special assignment for all of you. You are to report to the Bank of Acmetropolis at once."

"Nothing out of the ordinary's happened, has it?"

"No," the Frelengian smiled. "The bank president has requested your presence. They've installed a brand-new security system, and he wants you to help test it."

"Us?" Lexi asked.

"That's right. He figures you will provide the ultimate challenge for the system. If it can stop you, it can stop anyone."

Duck considered this. "Well, I guess I can postpone my vacation long enough for this," he shrugged.

Zadavia sighed and gave him one of _those_ looks. "Why, thank you, Duck. I just _knew_ I could count on your whole hearted co-operation."

"You got it!"

"I can't speak for Duck," Tech said, "nor would I presume to – _ever_ – but I, for one, relish the challenge!"

"You-mean-the-challenge-of-trying-to-outwit-a-security-system-that-you-_didn't_-build-right?-'cause-let's-face-it-you're-the-best-at-it-so-naturally-any-other-system-would-just-fall-to-pieces-figuratively-speaking-of-course-because-if-it-fell-to-pieces-literally-then-it-wouldn't-be-any-good-in-the-first-place-which-would-make-you-wonder-why-they-even-bothered-to-install-it," Rev added.

"Um, yeah," Tech grinned. "Zadavia, did he say what kind of system it is?"

"The Quagmyre-8000."

Tech reacted with a start. "The Quagmyre-8000?" he echoed. "This could be quite a workout, then."

"How so, doc?"

"Are you kidding, Chief? Quagmyres are the most reliable systems ever made – next to my own, of course. The 8000 is the latest model. I've read up on the advance specs and if it's anything like the others, beating it could be tougher than even _I_ thought!"

"Well then, consider it an after-breakfast exercise," Ace smiled. "Zadavia, tell him we accept the challenge!"

"How come _he_ gets a cheat sheet and we don't?" Duck asked.

"'We' or 'you', Duck?" Tech asked.

"Well, I was speaking in terms of the universal we…"

"In other words, you," Lexi smirked.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Duck, but the spec sheet only shows you how it's built. It doesn't tell you how to beat it."

"And speaking of which, if we're gonna go through with this, that's what _we'd_ better do!" Ace declared. "Loonatics, let's jet!"

---

"I have to hand it to you, sir," Tech said to the representative of Quagmyre, who was there to monitor the test along with the president of the Bank of Acmetropolis. "You've thought of everything! I couldn't have designed a better system myself!"

"Thank you, Tech. Coming from you, that's high praise indeed!"

"And so, this concludes this test of the Bank of Acmetropolis security system," Ace smirked.

"If this had been an actual emergency," Duck yawned, before he was rudely interrupted by a disembodied voice that seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"You would have heard the following," it said. "Your test isn't over yet, Loonatics."

"Hey, no fair! _I'm_ the only one who gets to rudely interrupt around here!"

"Clam up, Duck," Ace advised him strongly, nodding to Lexi, who took that as her cue to try pinpointing the source of that voice. "Eh, what kind of unauthorized test have you got in mind, Doc?"

"The name, if you will, is Inflictus..."

"_'Inflictus'?"_ Duck sneered. "Boy, who comes up with these corny villain names?"

"Prob'ly their corny mothers," Ace replied. "Anyway, Inflictus, about this so-called test?"

"Call it your finals, if you will. You might not have noticed it earlier, but there's a bomb located..."

"Don't tell us, let us guess," Duck grumbled. "The vault, right?"

"This is why you'll never amount to _anything_ as a crime fighter, Duck! The vault is _so_ predictable... and so are you."

"And you're _so_ boring," Duck snapped back.

"Okay, so tell us, if it isn't in the vault, then where is it?"

"Where else? The lobby! You have 90 seconds to find and deactivate it... oh yes, and clear the lobby of any customers – before this place becomes a giant crater, that is. Good luck. You'll _need_ it! Your time starts now."

The Loonatics, the Quagmyre rep and the bank president looked at each other for only a fraction of a second. "Come on!" Ace shouted, and the team hurried to the lobby, where there were indeed a whole slew of customers who had no idea what was about to happen. "Man, why isn't this job ever _easy?_" the bunny groaned. "Rev, get going!"

"Right!" The roadrunner streaked hurriedly through the lobby, gathering up surprised customers and depositing them outside the bank faster than they could blink. "Sorry-pardon-me-coming-through-early-closing-bank-holiday-thank-you-for-your-patronage-come-again-real-soon..." Rev managed to clear the entire lobby in a jaw-dropping 5.9 seconds. "_Whew!"_

"Good job, Rev," Ace said. "Lexi, were you able to get a fix on that voice?"

"No good, Ace. I couldn't pinpoint his location at all!"

"Well, let's not worry about that. We've got a bomb to find!"

"I'm-on-it,-Ace!" Rev said, tearing through the lobby like a road runner possessed.

"Duck, check the vault!"

"What for? Idioticus or whatever his name is already said the bomb isn't there!"

"Because that's where the money is, featherbrain!"

"Oh, yeah." Duck quacked out of the lobby and reappeared in the vault. "Hmm. Looks all right here." He then quacked back into the lobby. "All safe down there. How much more time we got?"

"According to my calculations, about a minute left," Tech said.

It was then the mystery voice spoke again. "Actually, I do apologize, Mr. Coyote; seems my watch is a little off."

"Only his _watch?_" Lexi asked.

"As I was saying, you didn't have 90 seconds after all. You really only had a minute!"

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a crook who ain't punctual," Ace sighed. "Okay, everybody, get out! NOW!" Tech, Slam, the rep and the bank president wasted no time following Ace's orders.

"FOUND IT!" Rev declared. "Man-I've-never-seen-anything-like-this..."

"That's fine, pal, but if you don't do something with it, you won't be seeing anything again, got it?" Ace replied.

"Oh-right-sorry-bout-that-Chief," Rev apologized, picking the bomb up and dashing out the door like his life depended on it (which, of course, it did). He literally tore up a red streak as he zoomed downtown, literally ran on the water of Acmetropolis Bay, dropped the bomb in the deepest part without stopping, and turned around heading back for the bank, creating one gigantic roostertail in his wake.

Meantime, inside the bank, Inflictus still had one or two more surprises for the remaining trio. "I'll give Rev credit," he said. "He was pretty fast. Unfortunately, it didn't do you a bit of good. That wasn't the bomb."

"It... it wasn't?" gulped Duck.

"Pity you'll never find it," the voice taunted them. "Especially as you only have fifteen seconds left..."

"DUCK! LEXI! CLEAR OUT!" Ace yelled, bolting out the door just as Rev whooshed right back in.

"I-don't-get-it-where-was-the-kaboom?-there-should've-been-an-earth-shattering-kaboom..."

"If you don't clear out, you may still hear it!" Duck snapped. "The bomb's still here!"

"Holy-moley!-Okay-not-to-worry-I'm-on-it!" And Rev continued zooming around the lobby, away from the others.

It was then Inflictus executed his back-up plan. Pulling a device from his coat, he aimed and fired an almost invisible beam at Lexi. "AAAAARRRGGHH!" she screamed, clutching her chest and collapsing on the floor.

Inwardly _and_ outwardly, Inflictus grimaced. '(CENSORED)! _That_ shouldn't have happened!'

"Lex!" Duck shouted. "What's going on?"

"It... it can't be... a heart attack..." she moaned painfully. "Duck... get out of here NOW!"

"But..."

"There's... no time... Don't... argue..." she gasped. "Just... go..."

"Oh, all right," Duck muttered, quacking out... and then just as quickly, quacking back in and scooping the bunny in his arms. "But if I go, I'm taking you with me!" And he quacked out again.

From his hidden vantage point, Inflictus leaned against a wall and breathed a sigh of relief.

"FOUND IT!!" Rev exclaimed, picking the real bomb up, which had been conveniently placed in a potted palm by the door, and dashed outside as fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, he tripped on a banana peel and watched helplessly as the bomb flew out of his hands and landed near Tech. "TECH!!" he yelled.

The coyote looked down and whimpered, "Not again..." just as the bomb went off. The explosion drew Ace's attention, as it did Slam's, and they hurried over to see their scientist friend reduced to a pile of ashes.

"Hey, Tech, you all right?"

The pile of ashes glowed a bright green and reconstituted itself into Tech, who wobbled a bit and said in a shaky voice, "Never felt better, why do you ask?"

"Uh, never mind..." Ace smirked. Tech would be fine. A little worse for wear, but fine. "Okay, let's see... Tech, Rev, Slam, myself... Rev, did you see Lexi and Duck?"

"Uh... now-that-you-mention-it-Chief-no-I-didn't-I-thought-I-saw-Duck-quacking-out-but-I-was-so-busy-looking-for-the-real-bomb-that-I-don't-know-what-happened-back-there..."

"A simple 'not sure' would've sufficed, Rev," Ace sighed, just as Duck quacked back among the others. Ace was the first to notice that he wasn't wearing his usual expression. "Um, Duck... where's Lexi?"

"Poor kid," the mallard mumbled.

"Duck?" Ace asked again, a little less friendly. "I'm gonna ask you one more time, and this time you'd better have an answer..."

"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention..."

Ace had never gone ballistic on the duck before. But all that was about to change. "AND BECAUSE YOU WOIN'T PAYING ATTENTION, YOU COULDA GOT LEXI KILLED, YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE JUST LUCKY REV FOUND THE BOMB IN TIME!! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING, ANYWAY?!?"

Duck waited until Ace was finished. "I was taking her to the hospital. She was having a heart attack," he said calmly, and quietly.

Ace's features froze, and his ears drooped. "W-what?"

"You heard me the first time," Duck said, still in that unnervingly quiet and calm tone. "I'm gonna go back and see how she is." With that, he quacked out again, leaving four very stunned Loonatics in his absence.

"Oh wow," Rev gasped.

---

Tech approached Ace just as the shock had finally worn off. "Um, Chief, you gonna be okay?"

Ace looked up wearily from where he'd been sitting. "Tech... tell me that wasn't me just then..."

"What do you want me to do, lie?"

The bunny gave a rueful chuckle. "No, I guess not. Man, if I haven't given Duck a reason to resent me before, he's got one now..." Ace sighed, and looked at the ground. "An' I desoive it, too."

"You know, Ace, something doesn't feel right about this whole thing," Tech said, sitting next to the leader. "Someone who's as healthy as Lexi is shouldn't be having heart attacks."

"Yeah, I know, that's what's really got me worried, Tech..." The conversation was interrupted by Rev, who had just finished giving the bank a thorough once-over. "Anything?"

"No-not-a-trace-of-Inflictus-it's-like-he-was-never-there-to-begin-with-..."

"Yeah, well, that bomb tells me otherwise," Ace sighed. "The good news is nothing got stolen."

"That's something else, Chief," Tech noted. "That bomb should've blown up half of the surrounding area if it was as powerful as Inflictus _said_ it was, and yet it was only strong enough to blow me up... and barely, at that. If Rev hadn't found it, I'm pretty sure the bank would've maintained just some minor cosmetic damage, at best. As I said, something's wrong with this whole picture."

"Hmmm... that's a point to consider, Tech. Anyway, we've done all we can do here. We better go check up on the others and see how they're doing."

The other three nodded and followed their leader to Acmetropolis General Hospital.

---

When they arrived, they found Danger Duck seated in the waiting room, looking like he'd had a bad day at the duck pond. That was to be expected. What wasn't expected was that he had company.

Zadavia.

"You're in for it now," Tech whispered.

"Don't I just know it," Ace whispered back. "Well, time to face the music." Swallowing a silent gulp, he cleared his throat.

If he thought that would get Zadavia's attention, he was right. It did.

Motioning for Duck to remain where he was, the Frelengian stood up, sighed, and approached the bunny in black. For a few painful seconds, it was as if she was at a loss for words. Ace didn't know which was worse; this, or what she would say when she finally found them.

"I heard about what happened at the bank this morning. Rev, congratulations on clearing the building before anything happened, and good work on finding the bomb."

"Thanks, Zadavia... sorry it was such a sloppy disposal, Tech..." The roadrunner made a clear and concerted effort to speak normally.

"That's all right, pal, it's not like it wasn't the first time," the coyote shrugged.

"Well, actually, considering I'd never slipped on a banana peel while trying to get rid of an explosive device before, _technically_, it _was_ the first time," Rev said with an embarrassed grin.

"Never mind, it's the thought that counts," Tech sighed.

"Ace... while I was otherwise impressed with your handling of the situation, I must say I found your behavior towards Duck most distressing..."

"Looking back on it, I wasn't too happy with it, either," he said haltingly. "I didn't know what was going on, and I... I panicked... I'm sorry..." He took a deep breath. "Duck..."

"Forget it..."

"No, I can't. I know I tend to ride your case sometime, but even you didn't deserve that kind of treatment, and... I apologize."

"You... you mean that?"

"Sure I mean it. I'd hate to think about what would've happened to Lexi if you hadn't been there..."

"Yeah, well, just between us, I was sweating bullets myself, especially when she told me to get out of there..."

"Wait a minute," Tech said. "Lexi... _told_ you to get out?"

"Yeah, more like _ordered_... but I couldn't do it. It's... I can't really explain it..." Duck was fumbling for words, and hoping the right ones would fall into place. "Well... I couldn't really _leave_ her there, could I?"

"No, I guess you couldn't," Ace said. "Thanks, Duck." At that moment, a doctor approached the Loonatics with a puzzled look on his face. "How... how is she, Doc?"

"Well, we've done all the tests we can think of, and apparently, there's nothing wrong with Lexi..."

"What?"

"She's got the heart of an acrobat, in fact."

"Um, in case it's escaped anyone's attention, she is an acrobat," Duck muttered.

"Thanks, Duck."

The doctor continued. "She had all the classic symptoms, but in her condition, she shouldn't have been experiencing them at all. However, Duck did the right thing by bringing her here when he did. If something serious were wrong with her, he would've wound up saving her life."

"Technicalities," Duck muttered.

"Tell me, Doctor," Tech asked, "what do you think caused it?"

The doctor shrugged. "Honestly? I haven't a clue."

"So, when can we see her?" Ace inquired.

"How about now?" The Loonatics turned to see Lexi standing in the doorway, looking as if the worst thing that had happened to her was missing a carrot sale. "Relax, guys, you heard the doctor, I'm fine."

"You... you're sure?"

"Never better, Ace... well, _almost_ never," the fembunny grinned. "Of course, it was a little hairy those last few seconds..."

"Um, yeah, we can imagine," Ace said, shuffling his feet. "Tell you what, why don't you tell us all about it at HQ, huh?"

"Okay... oh, Duck?"

"Yes?"

The fembunny sauntered up to the mallard and planted a quick smooch on him. "Thanks for not listening to me back there."

"Hey, you know me, Lexi," Duck said, waving it off as if it were nothing. "Just disobeying orders..."

"So she's good to go, Doc?"

"Don't see why not."

"That's good enough for us," Ace smiled. Once they left the hospital and gathered in the parking lot, Ace motioned for Duck and Lexi to approach him. "Guys?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really worried about you, Lexi..."

"I'd be, too," Duck said. "First she kisses me, and next thing you know, she'll be sticking her tongue on a flagpole in a snowstorm..."

"Ace, at the risk of sounding like a skipping mp3, you heard the doctor, I'm fine."

"Well, tell you what, when we get back to HQ, why don't you fill me in on what I missed, okay?"

"Sure, I've got no other plans," Lexi grinned.

"Okay then, Loonatics... let's jet!"

---

"...and the last thing that happened, I told Duck to get out."

"Um, yeah, you wanna explain yourself?"

"What's to explain, Ace? I figured... well, you know... if I really _was_ having a heart attack, and Rev couldn't find the bomb in time... well, there wasn't much point in _all_ of us getting blown to smithereens."

"Except, as it turned out, that wouldn't have happened anyway," Tech noted. "A potted palm might have been blown to bits and the building might have needed a small makeover, but that was about all."

"So what did you do then, Duck?" asked Zadavia.

"Not much to tell. I told her I was going, quacked out, quacked back in and said, 'But if I'm going, I'm taking you with me,' and took her to the hospital."

"Ah, the old fake-out," Ace grinned. "You're right. That's really not much...but it was good enough. Tech?"

"Well, Chief, it sounds to me like her 'heart attack' was artificially induced somehow."

"What makes you say that?" Ace asked.

"Okay. Consider that, as an acrobat, Lexi keeps herself in tip-top shape..."

"Why, Tech, how kind of you to notice," Lexi giggled.

"Ahem... yes... which is also what the doctor told us. After all, Lex's been in plenty of stressful situations before with us and never had that kind of reaction. The curious thing is, why did it happen when it did, just fifteen seconds before the bomb went off? I'm certain it was artificially induced, probably by the same guy who planted the bomb."

"In other words, Inflictus," growled Ace.

"That's quite a theory," Zadavia noted.

"It's the only one that makes sense," Tech shrugged. "Also, it's the only one I've got." Rev sped into the room at that point.

"Hey-guys-I-just-got-the-surveillance-footage-from-the-bank-like-you-requested-you-want-to-play-it-now?"

"I fear Ace still doubts the veracity of our story," Lexi sighed.

"Also its truthfulness," Duck sighed. Then they both emitted a long sigh.

"All right, you wise guys, ha ha, very funny," Ace rolled his eyes while Zadavia tried to stifle a giggle.

"This video will show the scene from every possible angle, Chief," Tech said. "If there is a clue, then it'll be here."

"Good enough. Roll 'em!"

Tech pressed the button that started the surveillance video. Ace felt his palms sweat as he watched Lexi collapse in pain, and the duck quack her out. From every possible angle. He was really glad Duck had decided not to listen to Lexi.

"How many more of these do we have to watch?" Ace asked.

"This is the last one," Tech said, pushing the playback button. Watching Lexi in that condition was going to give Ace nightmares for many a night to come, but he forced himself to watch it one last time... and that's when he saw it.

"Hold it, Tech!" Ace barked. "Can you zoom in on that upper balcony? Right behind Lexi... yeah, that's good... can you do anything with the imaging?"

"_Can_ I?" the coyote smiled smugly. "Just watch _this!_" Pushing a few buttons, the gang watched in amazement as a figure in the background came into sharper definition. "Who's _that_ guy?"

"You don't recognize him?" asked Zadavia.

"Never seen him before..." Tech muttered, pushing the play button again. This time they gasped as they saw him pull a device out and fire it at Lexi, with the same gut-wrenching results as before. This time, however, their reaction was totally different. "Well, I'll be... it _was_ artificially induced! Ingenious!" He felt Lexi's eyes burn into him (figuratively, not literally). "Er... from a scientific standpoint, of course..."

Ace stared hard at the screen. Something about this didn't quite add up. "Hey, play it again, Sam... er, Tech. Slo mo."

"Wise guy," Tech muttered, doing just that. "You notice something?"

"I'm not sure... zoom in on his expression."

"Okay," Tech replied, running the last view again. "That's odd!"

"What, Tech?"

"He almost looks..."

"Yes?"

"Well, from the way he's grimacing after pulling off that shot... and I can't believe I'm saying this... I don't think he _intended_ to give Lexi that phony heart attack! Let me run it one more time..."

Tech did so, and Zadavia paid particular attention. "From his expression, I'd say you're absolutely _right_, Tech! Whatever our Mr. Inflictus was planning, that heart attack _wasn't_ part of... wait a minute, stop the frame right there!"

"Eh, somethin' interestin', boss lady?"

"Yes, Ace... I'm not sure, but I _think_ I've seen that weapon before."

"Where on Acmetropolis would you get something like that?" Duck asked.

"You _couldn't_," Zadavia replied. "Not if it's what I _think_ it is... Tech, I need a printout of that frame."

The coyote smiled and handed her a glossy photo before she'd even finished her request. "I thought you might."

"Thank you," Zadavia smiled in return.

"Suck up," Duck mumbled. "What about Inflictus?"

"I'll go run his mug shot through our database..."

"Good idea, Tech. Forward it to the police while you're at it, okay?"

"Right, Chief," Tech said as he turned to do his work.

"Hey, Tech?"

"Yes, Duck?"

"Long as you're forwarding picture postcards of our felon of the week, why not send one to the bank president?" All eyes looked at Duck in amazement. "What? He might have seen the guy before, you know..."

"Hey, that's the _second_ best idea you've had all day!" Lexi declared.

"Whoa! Now you're _really_ starting to scare me, Duck!" Ace smirked.

---

As they were speaking, in another part of Acmetropolis, Inflictus was consulting with his superiors. He was not a happy camper, either.

"So, what did you find out about it?" one of them asked him.

"It's more powerful than we thought, sir," he said. "This experiment almost came close to exploding in our faces... literally."

"How so?"

"As I figured, Duck was able to get Lexi out of the bank in time, but Rev came close to getting himself blown up by slipping on a banana peel."

"Road runners. Go figure. Was anybody hurt?"

"Only the coyote, but he regenerated. Good thing it was only a practice bomb and not the real thing."

"I see. Anything else to report?"

"Apparently there's no 'mild' setting on this thing," Inflictus sighed, setting his weapon on the table in front of him. "I was aiming for giving Lexi a simulation of a mild stomach ache..."

"What happened?"

"I gave her a severe heart attack instead."

"Simulated, of course."

"Of course. I wish the controls were in English instead of this alien gibberish." He looked contemptuously at the weapon. "Permission to speak freely, sirs."

"Granted."

"I'm just wondering, are we really doing the right thing by testing this weapon on the Loonatics without letting them in on it?"

"Would you rather test it on our own men... or civilians?"

Inflictus grimaced. "I'd rather not test it at all, if the truth be told... or at least have Tech look at it. Maybe he can figure this thing out. I sure can't... and I've seen just about every weapon in the known universe... still..."

"Yes?"

"I suppose it's better that _we_ found it first instead of some of those goofball criminals. Can you imagine this in the hands of someone like Massive or Mastermind?"

"I'd really rather not; and might I remind you that as far as the Loonatics are concerned, _you_ are now one of those 'goofball' criminals?"

"Yes, sir. After all this is over, I'm _really_ going to have a tough time convincing them that we're _actually_ on the same side," Inflictus chuckled.

"Well, that's on a 'need-to-know' basis only, and for the time being..."

"They don't. Understood."

"As long as you..." His superior was interrupted by a message on his computer screen. "Hold on... Well, well, well... this might interest you..."

"What is it, sir?"

"What do you know about the Selzerians?"

Inflictus shrugged. "Not very much, sir. Fought 'em a few times, barely escaped twice." He pulled up his right pant leg to reveal six sets of teeth marks. "The second time was pushing my luck, there. I was fortunate I didn't lose my leg or wind up as their dinner. Actually, I know more about the Frelengians than the Selzerians."

"Well, you're going to have plenty to learn..."

---

Duck sat grumbling on the couch in the rec room while Tech indulged in a rare bit of gloating at his expense. "Once again, a great idea of Duck's comes up goose eggs," the coyote smirked.

"Now Tech, really," Lexi chided him. "It sounded like a good idea at the time, and anyway, it was _your_ idea to run Inflictus's mug shots through the usual channels."

The coyote looked up with an embarrassed start. "Oh... right... sorry, Duck... I got caught up in the moment..."

"Of what, my abysmal failure?"

Ace entered the room at that moment. "Eh, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing much to speak of," Lexi smiled, "except that we drew a blank all the way around trying to I.D. this Inflictus character."

"That's odd," Ace muttered. "Our database should automatically list every villain in the universe."

"Yeah-well-this-Inflictus-is-still-a-relative-newcomer-Ace-and-you-know-new-villains-keep-cropping-up-all-the-time-so…"

"I get the idea, Rev," Ace half-smiled. "Seems strange that nobody _else_ has ever seen this guy before, though."

"What's even stranger, Chief, is that he hasn't shown up _since_," Tech mused. "Usually the villains we fight make at least one return appearance; but not him. It's like he was just a blip on the radar or something."

"Well, as long as he never blips around _these_ parts again, that'll be good enough for me," Duck said. "We have _enough_ problems with the _regular_ idiots."

---

Back in his office, the man otherwise known as 'Inflictus' had just spent the last couple of hours seated at his laptop computer going over classified data, almost all of it about the Selzerians, and by now – turning his earlier words around – he knew even more about them than he did the Frelengians. He even knew more – finally – about that weapon he'd used against Lexi.

He had come to the decision that he really would have preferred to remain in blissful ignorance. Of course, that was impossible; once he had studied something, it remained locked in his memory forever.

That hadn't happened before the meteor hit.

Considering all the things that _could_ have happened to him, he told himself, he was fortunate all he got out of it was a greatly improved memory; it actually proved to be a boon in his field of work.

Although, truth be told, he wouldn't have minded some super powers to go with it. At least that way, he could have fought off the Selzerians a little better… heck, he could have mopped up the cosmos with them…

and his mentor would still be alive.

He paused, tried to shake off the mental image, but couldn't. If he had only gotten there just one minute earlier… maybe his mentor would have had a chance… and _he_ wouldn't have those scars on his leg as a reminder of his failure.

He needed a break right now. He rose out of his chair, walked over to the coffeepot, and poured himself a big mug of the stuff. He didn't care for drinking it out of tubes. As far as he was concerned, either you drank coffee out of a hurkin' fat mug or you didn't drink it at all. He took a sip and made a slight face. 'Bitter, but not too… still drinkable,' he thought. He set his mug down and returned to his computer, casually glancing to his right, where a photo sat in a frame on the corner of his desk. It was a photo of his friend and mentor, alongside a beautiful young blonde woman. It was taken a few years ago, before the meteor hit, and before his friend died.

He wondered whatever happened to _her_, and then shook the thought off. Anyway, he had more important things to think about. He couldn't afford to waste his time concentrating on a mysterious girl who, for all he knew, probably wasn't even alive any more…

Someone named Zadavia…

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Story © October 5, 2007 by Jerry D. Withers (aka Furrball T. Cat). All rights reserved. Newly revised version © Sept. 12, 2009 by same. "Loonatics Unleashed" and all related characters and indicia are ™ and © 2005-2009 by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. and are used without permission. All rights reserved. The character "Inflictus" is created and © 2007 - 2009 by ME! All rights reserved.

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Okay. There's the setup. To find out what happens next time, go immediately to "Acmetropolis 4: The Turncoat". See you there!

In case you missed them earlier, here's the original reviews for Inflictus…

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-11

ch 1 Marvelous job with Inflictus; these good-guys-playing-bad-guys characters are always interesting.

Nice stuff with all the Loonatics. True, Duck can be a problem at times, but he had shown his capacity several times in the past, and deserves some respect.

Keep the good writing.

SSBFreak / 2007-10-13

ch 1 This can prove to be interesting. I wonder how the story's going to turn out...

I really like how you portray Duck in your stories. I think he should get a little of your Duck's personality in the actual show.

Capital-C / 2007-10-26

ch 1 C is pleased with this. C is Very pleased with this. Please ignore the creepy third person speech.

warprince2000 / 2007-10-31

ch 1 Very cool story! can't wait to see what happens in the next story you write (update soon Plz)


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